Myanmar’s military government on Thursday lifted a four-year state of emergency that had been in place since the army seized power in a coup, as it prepared to hold an election that would be boycotted by opposition groups.
The action did not represent a move away from military rule. Nor was it expected to result in any meaningful change for the people. Under Myanmar’s Constitution, elections cannot be held during a state of emergency. The government has said it planned to hold a vote in December.
As part of the move, the head of the military junta, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, appointed himself as acting President of a new “Union government”.
“It’s essentially handing power from the left hand to the right,” said U Kyee Myint, a human rights lawyer who is in hiding in Myanmar. “But regardless of how things are restructured or reshaped, the essence remains the same: He still holds all the power.”
The military imposed a state of emergency in February 2021 after it launched a coup against a civilian government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Since the coup, the country has been convulsed by a four-year civil war as people took up arms against the government.
New York Times News Service